Five and a Half Years Ago

Boom!

A lion-like roar rumbled in the distance, shaking the ground with the force of an earthquake. A strike of bright, electric-blue lightning flashed just outside the window, piercing through the darkness that engulfed the night sky like a sword.

Crash!

A wall of water began cascading downwards, striking the pavement below and making a huge splash. More lightning struck. The sky erupted with a bright light for a split second- then more darkness.

A little girl of about six or seven years old sat in the window, her elbows propped up against the sill, her hands pressed against her cheeks. Her wavy golden blonde hair was in a tangled, messy rat's nest, her eyes were bloodshot, and her face was red. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, which could be expected. It was very late at night. She wasn't crying anymore, but it was incredibly obvious that she had been. Her cheeks were still wet with tears.

A third thundering roar, this one ten times louder than the first two, rumbled. The girl shrieked, terrified, as the whole apartment shook. Her bright blue eyes widened in fear, and with almost inhuman speed, she got as far away from the window as she could in the confinements of her bedroom, crawling into the safety of her bed and crouching under the covers.

She wanted nothing more than to go into the living room and into her mother's arms, but she knew that would never happen. Her mom wasn't home yet. If she left her room this early at night, she would find Gammy sitting on the couch, watching reruns of I Love Lucy or some other old show on TV. If she told her that she was scared, she would just tell her to stay in her room until her mom got home, which, like any other day, wouldn't be until around midnight, maybe one o'clock at the latest.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

In all of her almost seven years of living, the girl had never been as terrified as she was then. Were there ghosts? Were they coming to get her for being bad? For not doing her homework and coloring in that picture of an elephant like she was supposed to?

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I can't be scared, the girl thought, gritting her teeth determinedly. I'm Maya Hart... I don't ever get scared... never ever!

She risked a peek out from under her blankets, her blue eyes wide. The sight that awaited her as she flipped on the light (why she hadn't done so earlier was beyond her) was certainly not the one she was expecting.

There were no ghosts out there, no one coming to get her for not coloring in that elephant picture like she was supposed to. But in little Maya's mind, it was just as freaky.

It was Farkle. The boy with the brown hair and the bangs taking up his forehead. The boy in her first grade class. The geek. The teacher's pet. The boy who claimed to love both her and Riley. The boy who she may-or-may-not have had a teensy-weensy (or maybe huge) secret crush on.

The little boy was peering into her bedroom window. His bangs were plastered to his forehead. He was drenched, completely soaked. Maya felt extremely bad for him.

Knowing that there was nothing to be scared of, Maya slid out of bed, jumping down and running toward the window. Though it took much effort on her part, she managed to open it.

"Farkle? What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night!" she exclaimed. "How'd you even get here?"

"Can I come in?" was all the boy answered with. He was shivering now, his teeth chattering even as he made an effort to stop them.

Maya hesitated, glancing in the direction of her door. "I dunno. Gammy won't like me having boys in my room."

"Please, Maya?" Farkle pleaded. "It'll only be for a minute."

Her shoulders drooped. "Fine," she muttered, stepping back to give him space to climb in.

"Thanks," he panted once he was inside.

Maya put her hands on her hips. "So what is this about, teacher's pet? Just decided to drop by and pay me a visit? Were you in the neighborhood or somethin'?" she asked dryly. "Spill it."

"I had to check on you," Farkle said, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why do I need checking on?"

"Because. Farkle saw the lunch-lady giving you extra food. I wondered why. I came here."

Maya narrowed her eyes, her face turning strawberry red. "You saw that?"

Farkle nodded. "And I want to know why."

Maya's heart raced. She suddenly felt defensive, stepping backwards, away from him. "That's none of your business!" she cried. Her stomach growled loudly, much to her dismay.

"What was that?" Farkle inquired.

"Nothing," Maya said pointedly, stealing a subconscious glance in the direction of the half-eaten tuna melt sitting on her desk. A piece of paper sat next to it, a well-drawn sketch of an elephant. If one looked closely, they could see the writing on the front of the paper, somewhat ruining the excellence of the drawing. But Maya didn't care. It wasn't like she had a sketchbook to draw in. If she wanted to draw, she had to do it on the back of her old school papers.

Farkle followed her gaze. Without a word, he walked over to her desk. He gasped as his eyes fell on the picture.

"Maya, did you draw that?"

"No... yes... maybe..." Maya said, becoming very interested with the floor. She wished it could just open up and swallow her just then and there. Then she wouldn't have to be having this conversation right now. "It sucks, I know..."

"How could you possibly think that?" Farkle asked. "This is beautiful!"

"You're just saying that."

"No I'm not."

"Farkle, you may be a genius, but I'm not stupid."

"I know that you're not stupid Maya. You just don't seem to know that you have a gift," Farkle said gently. "You deserve to know that you have a gift."

Tears welled up in Maya's eyelids, threatening to spill over. A lone tear escaped, streaming down her face and dripping onto the floor. "Gifts..." she whispered, temporarily forgetting Farkle's presence.

"Is something wrong?" Farkle asked softly, placing his hand on Maya's shoulder. She pulled his hand away, stepping backwards and sitting on her bed.

"It's... nothing..."

"It is not nothing. Tell me."

"It's just... gifts. My father... he hasn't sent me anything in a while... It's like he's forgotten that I exist."

Farkle's face fell. He pulled Maya into a hug.

Maya didn't pull away. Instead, she buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing hysterically. Farkle didn't say anything- he just let her cry, rubbing her back soothingly.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Maya regained her composure. She wiped her last tear and pulled away, glancing at her door. Gammy Hart must have been asleep- she hadn't come to check on her.

"You saw nothing," she said sternly, turning back to Farkle. "This is our little secret, okay. This never happened. Not even Riley can know."

"Not even Riley? But she's your best friend!"

"She still can't know," Maya said pointedly. "You tell anyone and I'll break you. That's a promise. Our little secret?"

"Our little secret," Farkle nodded firmly. Maya couldn't help but grin, a big, toothy grin that revealed the gap in her teeth where she had lost a tooth the week before. It was still under her pillow- the tooth fairy still hadn't come yet. Maya had been content with thinking that she was just too busy to get her tooth.

"Okay, I think you gotta go now," Maya said, glancing the clock. How are you getting home?"

"I have my ways," Farkle said mysteriously as he climbed out of the window. "Thank you, I am Farkle!"

Maya stared at him skeptically. Somehow the thought of a first grader walking home alone on a dark, stormy night in New York didn't exactly compute in her head. She shook her head, dismissing the thought.

"Bye Farkle!" she called, waving.

"Bye Maya!" he called back. And with that, he disappeared into the night.

Present Day

Boom!

A lion-like roar rumbled in the distance, shaking the ground with the force of an earthquake. A strike of bright, electric-blue lightning flashed just outside the window, piercing through the darkness that engulfed the night sky like a sword.

Crash!

A wall of water began cascading downwards, striking the pavement below and making a huge splash. More lightning struck. The sky erupted with a bright light for a split second- then more darkness.

But Maya wasn't scared. At all. In fact, the noise of the storm was almost comforting to her. I reminded her of that night, back in the first grade. The six-and-a-half-year-old Maya had been terrified until Farkle had come. To this day she still had no idea how he got there of how he got home. It was true. That boy really did have his ways.

He also had a way of making a girl feel special. Making her feel loved. Making her feel like she wasn't alone. Making her feel different feeling she had never felt before, nor could she describe them. Making her smile when she felt like she would never be happy again. Making her feel like she actually had a purpose in life. Like the universe payed attention to her.

But her childish, little girl dreams would probably never come true. He said that he loved her, but how could that be true? She was a rebel, a bad girl. He had never missed a class in his life, barring the one time he was being bullied, but that was a valid reason.

And as Maya lay in her bed, drawing with the colored pencils that Mr. Matthews had given her, she thought that life had to be a cruel joke. She would never be happy, never grow up to get a good job, never do anything with her life. Riley would get a good job and marry Lucas and have a great life, and what would she do? Show up on their doorstep late at night and ask to stay with them.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Maya jumped. She glanced around, then returned to her drawing, forgetting to look out the window.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Maya grit her teeth. She looked up, and saw a figure standing at her window.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"It's the Farkle!"

Maya blinked. What was he doing here? She jumped off of her bed, opening her window. Sure enough, it was him. Her heart fluttered.

"Farkle? What are you doing here? You're soaked!"

"I just decided to drop by," he panted, winking. Maya blushed. He'd remembered what she said that night, all those years ago.

"You remember that?" she asked, becoming very interested with her feet.

"Of course I remember that, Maya. Why wouldn't I?" Farkle asked, tilting his head to the side. Maya looked into his eyes as she tried to find an answer to that.

They're blue, she thought. I guess I never really noticed that.

"It was six years ago," she finally said. "I"m surprised I remember."

"Five and a half," Farkle corrected. "You showed me that elephant picture."

"You looked at it without my permission."

"It was beautiful."

"It sucked. Are we really having this argument right now?"

Farkle sighed, obviously thinking better of arguing with her. Maya smirked.

"So why are you really here?" she asked. "Or were you really in the neighborhood?"

"I wanted to ask you something," Farkle told her. "Can I come in?"

Maya hesitated. "I'm not sure. Gammy might not like you being in my room."

"Gammy Hart loves me though," he pointed out. Maya shrugged.

"Good point. Come on in."

Once he was in, he walked over to her bed, picking up the half finished picture that lay on it. Maya lunged forward, snatching it out of his hands before he could get a good look at it.

"You're not supposed to see that!" she cried, pressing it close to her chest as if she were afraid he'd take it.

"Why not?" Farkle asked, his eyes wide.

"You had a question for me?" Maya asked, swiftly avoiding the question.

"That can wait. Why can't I see the picture?"

Maya paused, biting her lip. "Uh... It's very personal, okay?"

Farkle sighed. He opened his mouth to protest. "But-"

"Just drop it, okay?" Maya snapped. Farkle's face fell, and Maya instantly regretted snapping like that.

"Okay," he said softly. Maya's heart sank.

"So... what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"I wanted to know if... if you might want to go to the dance with me tomorrow?"

Maya's heart soared. 'Yes yes!' she wanted to yell. 'Of course I want to go with you!' but she didn't. Her brain was too focused on registering the fact that Farkle had come to her house the night before the dance after her playing hard to get for the past few weeks. She couldn't refuse now. It would break his little heart. And she couldn't have that happen.

"Fine, I'll go with you," she said with forced sarcasm, wanting to make it sound like she didn't want to go. No matter how much she wanted to, she could not squeal like a little girl. Not in front of him. Not if she was going to uphold her bad-girl reputation.

A grin a mile wide spread across Farkle's face. "Really?!" he cried. "I didn't expect you to say yes! This is the best day ever!"

Maya rolled her eyes, unable to suppress a grin. "Yeah, yeah, don't make a huge deal out of it, kay?"

They stood there in her room for a while, talking. About school, about homework, about life. It was the most open Maya had ever been about anything, not even to Riley. They talked well into the night- it was almost midnight when Farkle left, complaining that he should have been in bed hours ago. Maya had laughed as he climbed out the window.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," he said once he was out. "... right?"

Maya laughed. "I'll be there." she paused. "... and Farkle?"

"Yes, my love?"

Maya would have rolled her eyes. But she didn't. She had something on her mind, something she'd needed to get off her chest since he showed up at her window.

"Why... why do you like me? I mean, I'm nothing special..."

"That's easy, Maya," Farkle said with a smile. "I like you because you're you."

And with that, he disappeared into the night.